Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Autumn Dean/ Susan Kae Grant

Susan Kae Grant is a professor and head of the photography
program at the Texas Woman’s University.I picked this artist because of the way she puts a ton of research into
her art.The Night Journey Series
is more than just a photograph of shadows, but a look into her
unconsciousness.On this series
Susan worked with sleep scientist John Herman.She wanted to learn more about her unconscious mind so she
used herself as the subject and did sleep studies with John.He would monitor her sleep cycles and wake
her after a REM cycle.He would
then ask her questions about her dreams.From these studies she figured out from listening to the dialog what she
wanted to communicate to her viewer.This series is very dramatic, and she captures the dream like state very
well in these photographs.The
shadowy figures and subjects seem to crawl up these fabric walls that run from
ceiling to floor.I like how the
bottom of these fabric walls curve and turn into the floor.This causes the images to just trail
off into nothingness.This is very
powerful to me because it seems like you can never see a scene in your dreams
in its entirety.Susan really put a
lot of work into this research, it took her seven years to gather enough
research of her REM cycles.It is
also very dramatic how her pictures not only have their subject but also the
shadows of branches that create these magnificent organic lines throughout the
photo.

Susan finds that she likes her art to interact with the viewer.By creating these huge fabric panels
the viewer must walk through this dream world.Another way this artist like to interact with her audience
is by books.She usually
researches an idea or subject for two years before making her book, which also
includes her photography.The way
she works with her art and ideas are very different and can be learned from.